Le Canard Enchaîné revealed on Wednesday 25 January that the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire would not have taken into account a report from the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) pointing out the superprofits of the managers of the motorway networks.
Has the state buried a report advocating drastically lowering toll rates? This is revealed in an article by Chained Duck in his latest issue: “Bruno Le Maire stifled a report from the Finance Inspectorate which dissected the superprofits of motorway concessionaires and proposed to lower tolls by… 60% on two-thirds of the network”, writes the palmipede.
The Minister of the Economy would have had this 60-page report in February 2021. The IGF is concerned about “the much higher profitability than expected from the managers of the two largest motorway networks”. These are APRR-Area and ASF-Escota. It would reach 12% when the state targeted 7.6% when the highways were privatized in 2006.
An increase on February 1
To prevent dealers from filling their pockets, the Finance Inspectorate proposed a drastic drop in prices of 50% on average. Even though toll rates will increase by an average of 4.75% on February 1st.
After these revelations, the indignation is unanimous. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan believes that this “is akin to racketeering” and proposes to “nationalize the highways and remove tolls”. Socialist MP Boris Vallaud asks to see the report because “this article raises many questions”. Marine Le Pen denounces “the complicit passivity of Bruno Le Maire”.
A “lack of involvement of the Minister” of the Economy
The authors of the report point to the “lack of involvement” of the Minister of the Economy” in particular on “all negotiations related to concessions, contracts and their amendments”. And this, while the dealers receive “11 billion euros. ‘euros per year in tolls’.
In the entourage of Bruno Le Maire, quoted by BFM TV, we sweep away these accusations, believing that the recommendations of the report “do not hold legally”. It seems impossible to levy the excess or impose a drastic drop in tariffs. On the other hand, it would be possible to envisage an early end to the concessions in 2026. Without being certain of winning the legal battle that the concessionaires would not fail to engage…